A book on writing Sam Mc Carter

I n t e l l iG e n e F irst published by IntelliG ene 1997 R eprinted 1998 Second R eprint 2002 a book on writing C opyright Sam M cC arter and The N uffield Self-access Language lYpjcci for O verseas D octors at Southw ark C ollege, L ondon IS B N 9519582 Sam McCarter t HnHHrirt *s lu m s iiiu im For Alison, Deborah and Johnathan ( ontcnls P rcfiiee > A cknow ledgem ents ii Section 1: Focus on coherence I low to interpret essay title s Mow to link your introduction to your essay title 5 Language sa lv a g e Controlling your id e a s How to organise and control your essay Giving names to sen ten ces Naming sentences in a paragraph .10 Awareness of coherence in a p a rag rap h 12 Organising a paragraph by q u e stio n s 14 10 11 12 More questions for organising 16 Creating questions for organising a te x t 17 The sequence of te n s e s 18 13 14 Making c h o ic e s 19 A chaos m a z e 20 K e y 86-106 Section 2: Focus on cohesion 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Sentence relationships - knowledge check 26 Sentence relationships - knowledge check 27 Some areas of confusion 28 Split te x ts 30 Lost connecting words and p h rases 31 Sentence relationships in a t e x t 32 Text with gaps 34 Text with no gaps 35 Reference with sy n o n y m s 36 More reference with synonym s 37 Words and phrases that are not exactly c o rre c t 38 The definite article as a connecting w o rd 39 The articles: fill the g a p s 40 Reference awareness and connections in a text .41 Awareness of old/new information in a sentence: 42 30 Awareness of old/new information in a sentence: 42 31 C ontradictions 44 K e y 107-121 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Formal letter checklist Part .48 Formal letter checklist Part .49 Formal letter a n a ly s is 50 Sequence of tenses in a te x t 51 Reading for writing 52 Formal and informal aw aren e ss 54 Translation from informal to formal 55 Dressing up an informal le tte r 56 Formal to informal translation 57 41 A writing d r ill .58 K e y 122-129 Section 4: Correcting written English 42 43 44 45 Recognising spelling m ista k e s 62 Recognising the correct word p ictu re 63 Recognising words with a different appearance 64 Editing sentences with different m istak es 65 46 Speed e d itin g 66 47 48 49 50 51 52 A teacher’s rev e n g e ! 67 Correcting a te x t 68 Correcting and improving a te x t 70 Learning to see mistakes in a t e x t 72 Finding irrelevant in fo rm atio n 73 Another m a z e 74 K e y 130-136 Section 5: Punctuation 53 54 55 56 57 Punctuation n am es 80 Questions about p u n ctu atio n 81 Missing pun ctu atio n .82 Punctuation correction 83 Capital L etters 84 K ey 137-139 l u m m u m i eh n o0si f Section 3: Writing letters Preface T h is p u b licatio n is a self-stu d y b o o k on w ritin g It is b a se d on th e a u th o r’s w o rk o v e r m any years in E nglish as a S eco n d /F o reig n L an g u ag e an d E n g lish fo r S pecial P u rp o ses, first in S ierra L eo n e, W est A frica, and th en in the U K The book is d esig n ed prim arily fo r E n g lish lan g u ag e stu d en ts at an a d v a n c e d lev el, i.e th e C a m b rid g e C e rtific a te in A d v a n c e d E n g lis h ,C a m b rid g e P ro fic ie n c y and th o se stu d e n ts p re p arin g to a ch ie v e ap p ro x im a te ly b etw een 6.0 an d 7.5 in th e IE L T S ex am m an ag e d and a d m in iste re d by the B ritish C o u n c il, the U n iv e rsity o f C a m b rid g e L ocal I ix am in atio n s S y n d icate (U C L E S ) an d by IE L TS A u stralia N ativ e sp eak ers o f E n g lish m ay also find so m e asp e c ts o f th e b o o k o f use T h e book h as been w ritten from a c o g n itiv e , rath e r than a g m m a tic a l, p o in t o f view T h e g u id in g p rin c ip le th ro u g h o u t is to m im ic th e u n d e rly in g m ech a n ism s a n d th o u g h t p ro c e sse s that m a k e u p the act o f w ritin g T h e re fo re , it is h o p ed th at if y o u fin ish th is b o o k you w ill re m e m b e r th e m e c h a n ism s th e r th a n th e la n g u ag e an d ad a p t th e m to suit y o u r o w n n eed s T h e re arc five S e c tio n s, fo cu sin g on th e fo llo w in g areas: co h e re n c e in a te x t, co h esio n , letter w ritin g , c o rre c tin g a tex t and p u n ctu atio n A ll th e e x ercises m ay b e u se d in iso latio n , b ut you arc m ean t to read th em as fa r as p o ssib le in seq u en ce T h e e x e rc ise s a rc , in the m a in , d e sig n e d to m ak e you slow d o w n a n d th in k about org an isatio n in w ritten texts You m ay fin d , th erefo re, th at you hav e to rep eat an exercise sev eral tim es O n o c c a sio n , y o u m ay ev en feel th e n e e d to use th e K ey to h elp you c o m p le te a p a rtic u la r ex ercise; d o not b e afra id to th is T h e im p o rtan t th in g is that you are ab le to d o th e ex e rc ise s w ith ease a fte r so m e p ctice O n e w ay p erh ap s to a p p ro ach the ex e rc ise s is to th in k o f th e m as creatin g a m ech a n ism fo r you to ab so rb the in fo rm atio n in the K ey R e m e m b e r th a t you are a lso try in g to a b so rb the m ental p ro cesses in v o lv ed in w ritin g T h is is o b v io u sly m u ch m o re tim e c o n su m in g , an d so m e tim e s m o re fru stra tin g , th an learn in g b are facts Y ou sh o u ld not th ere fo re e x p e c t to d o each e x e rc ise p erfectly , n o r a lw ay s at th e first a ttem p t l*'or e a ch e x e rc ise in this b o o k y o u sh o u ld read all th e in stru ctio n s v ery carefu lly A s you d o the ex e rc ise s try not to m ark the book so th at you can re p e a t th em Sam M cCarter August 1997 Acknowledgements I w ould like to th an k th e fo llo w in g c o lle a g u es a n d frie n d s fo r th e ir h e lp an d sup p ort d u rin g th e w ritin g and p ro d u c tio n o f th is b o o k Ju d ith A sh , D o ris B a y b u tt, W e n d y B isik e r, J u lie E a s to n , H ila ry F in c h , C a ro lin e H a m m o n d , P h il Ja k e s, R o g e r T o w n sen d , M ic k y S ilv e r a n d B e rn ie W all I w ould also like to th an k all th o se stu d en ts o v e r th e y e a rs w h o h a v e h elp e d in m any w ays to d ev e lo p the id eas in th is b o o k It is im p o ssib le to n a m e th em all, but I w ould like to n am e th ree p eo p le in p articu lar: H iro K h o sh n a w , Z o ran M o m c ilo v ic and S hujaat A1 N ath an i A sp ecial th a n k s is also d u e to th e m e m b e rs, p a st an d p re s e n t, o f th e C o m m itte e o f the N u ffie ld S e lf -a c c e s s L a n g u a g e P ro je c t fo r O v e rs e a s D o c to rs , n a m e ly : A n a h ita A m in o s se h e , J u d ith A s h , A le x a n d D a v ie s , S tu a rt E v a n s, T o n y H o o p e r, F arh a d Ib r a h im , D o ro th y J o n e s , J o y P a r k in s o n , J u lie t R a y n e r, W e n d y R ile y , H c rn a n R o sen k ran z, A z a r S h eib a n i, T oni S c o tt, R o b y n Y oung SECTION T w o m em b ers o f the said C o m m itte e , w h o a re n o lo n g e r w ith u s, D r K a th e rin e E llio tt and K en C rip w e ll, also d e se rv e a m e n tio n D rs G ill and B ru ce H a d d o c k d e serv e m o re th a n k s th a n I can say fo r th e ir lo n g p atien ce a n d fo rb earan ce F in ally , I w o u ld like to say a v ery sp ecial th a n k y o u to M arg o B ly th m a n fo r h av in g faith a book on w ritin g Contents Page a book on writing H ow to in terp re t essay t i t l e s H ow to link y o u r in tro d u c tio n to y o u r essay t i t l e .5 L a n g u a g e s a l v a g e C o n tro llin g y o u r i d e a s H ow to o rg an ise and co n tro l y o u r e s s a y G iv in g n a m e s to s e n t e n c e s N a m in g se n ten ces in a p a r a g r a p h 10 A w areness o f co h e re n c e in a p a r a g r a p h 12 O rg a n isin g a p a rag rap h by q u e s t i o n s 14 10 M ore q u e stio n s fo r o r g a n is in g 16 1 C re atin g q u e stio n s fo r o rg a n isin g a t e x t 17 12 T h e se q u e n c e o f t e n s e s .18 13 M ak in g c h o ic e s 19 14 A ch a o s m a z e 20 a book on w ritin g Exercise How to interpret essay titles Exercise How to link your introduction to your essay title The first step in writing any essay is to read and interpret the essay title correctly Let us look al the following example: In the last exercise, you looked at interpreting essay titles and writing a suitable introduction What steps you think should he taken to reduce pollution? In this essay question, the word steps is the organising word and the general subject is puliation You not need to describe pollution itself; the title assumes that you already know what pollution is The title also indicates that pollution, at the mom ent, is bad You could, therefore, use this idea as part o f your introduction: In other words, you were looking forward from the essay title to the introduction As you write, however, you also need to look back at what you have written, as well as forward In the introductions below, look for the organising words and decide what the general subject is Then write down a possible essay title for each one Example: To many people boxing is a cruel sport, which ought to be banned In my opinion, however, it should not be stopped fo r many reasons Pollution is nowadays one o f the most serious threats to all living things on the planet There are, however, many steps that can be taken to remedy this situation The first sentence is a general statement about the general subject The second sentence is the topic sentence: it gives the direction of the essay and tells you how to organise it It you look at the topic sentence first, you will see that there are several clues to the title The essay is about your opinion and the reasons The general sentence shows you that the general subject is boxing Look at the following titles and you will see that the introduction expresses (lie general subject and focus or topic o f the title: Now study the essay titles below and: - Boxing should be banned What is your opinion o f this statement? Give your reasons - What is your opinion o f boxing? Give your reasons (a) find the word(s) in each question which will help you to organise your essay (b) decide what the general subject o f the essay is Capital punishment is an issue about which people fe e l very passionately However, there are many strong arguments against this issue W h a t are th e m o st e ffe c tiv e w ay s to re d u c e u n e m p lo y m e n t in E u ro p e ? Banning smoking in public places is an issue that gives rise to endless controversy There are, therefore, many arguments fo r and against W h a t are th e d isa d v a n ta g e s o f u sin g c o m p u te rs in the w o rk p la c e ? Road deaths in Europe are still a major problem This situation could, however, be improved enormously by adopting a wide-ranging package o f measures F o o d a d d itiv es sh o u ld b e b a n n e d D isc u ss W h a t are the m ain b en efits o f in v e stin g m o n ey in sp ace re se a rc h ? Over recent years, poverty has increased in many parts o f the world with disastrous consequences T h e m ain c a u se o f th e d e stru c tio n o f th e e n v iro n m e n t is th e b u rn in g o f The legalisation o f cannabis is a subject that has aroused considerable debate There are, however, a number o f benefits to be derived from making the drug legal Recycling waste paper, glass and scrap metal is obviously a sound m ethod fo r reducing pollution Even so, a number o f equally important measures exist to tackle the problem fo ssil fu els D iscu ss D is c u s s th e a d v a n ta g e s o f se x e d u c a tio n in th e s c h o o l c u rr ic u lu m at seco n d ary level T h e b est solution to u rb an traffic p ro b lem s is to b an all cars fro m city c e n tre s W h a t is y o u r o p in io n ? T o b acco a d v ertisin g in th e m e d ia sh o u ld b e b a n n e d W h a t is y o u r o p in io n ? G iv e y o u r reaso n s a book on writing In some cases a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but there are also certain circumstances where it can be o f enormous help Both public and private means o f transport have advantages and disadvantages Corporal punishment, in one form or another, has been part o f the educational system in many countriesfor a long time As fa r as I am concerned, however, such punishment is unacceptable 10 Now that oil resources are becoming rapidly depleted, more attention is being focused on alternative form s o f energy a book on w ritin g Exercise Ex eicise L ^ j rolling your ideas _ Language salvage Now it is time for you to try to write your own introductions, with some help All the essay questions below have the same general subject The focus of each essay, however, is different In each case, decide first what the focus is Then look below You will see that you have a list of introductions with another general subject Find an introduction, or introductions, with a similar focus and adapt the text to fit the titles _ _ You h |vc |()0|[...]... Dean Sarah 8.1 must admit 16 a few lines iam writing to thandgoa ftorgoar better, which ireceia-eda coupbe oftdags ago, and fa r tie message on mg answering machine, b t was 5 such a pheasant experience to hear ftromgoa i'o-e triedinnamerabbe times to made contact withgoa on the phone, bat i dept obtaining goar answering machine So i resobo-ed to patpen to paper instead it's reabbg wonderfa b oftgoa... contributed enormously to the welfare of the human race (2) Nevertheless, I personally feel that such experiments are totally unacceptable for many reasons 12 a book on writing c supplying background information d giving an example e an explanation f an argument against animal experiments g a topic sentence for the essay h an organising sentence i a concession k suggestions 1 an opinion nt an expansion... Think specifically about the coherence in the text a a conclusion p a contrast q introducing the focus or topic of a paragraph r introducing a reason Reminder Write yctur answers on a separate sheet for all the exercises so that you can repeat them a book on w ritin g 13 Exercise 9 a There are, however, many arguments for and against banning blood sports Organising a paragraph by questions In this exercise,... tfabbbbast, especiabdg when abbgoa hear is th a t deep thud, iwoabdsuggestgoa bbast them with some opera in the middbe oft the night On a happier note, a meeting between as can be arranged beftore we go to {/enice, ift it's nice, we coabdftinish th a tpromenade abong the rio-er and then we coabd have a bate aftternoon tea Tinabbg, i boodftorward to hearing ftrom goa soon andhope J goar biftc andenvironment... 31 On i 40 arrival a t 32 a irp o rt, G iant’s Causeway is one o f 35 33 first thing he did was phone home most beautiful places in 36 Europe a book on writing m utnm um m nut Exercise 27 Exercise 28 Reference awareness and connections in a text Below is part o f an article for a school magazine on: Life in 100 yea rs’ time; a personal view Read the texl through carefully; you will see that the passage... hao-e arranged the hobidag to /enice so cftfticicntbg These dags idon'tseem to be abbe tog e t mg a ct together; nor do ihao-ethe time or energg to do angthing i mast sag th a t chasing abbthispaper aroanda t word is depmC'Ssing me Ip/ebb, i'm sorrg to be infarm ed th a t goar noise pro idem has not come to a satisfactorg concbasionget it's trabg sebfash andinconsiderate oftpeopbe topbag masic a tfabbbbast,... holographic messages will be able to be stored for play back later, just as answering machines do today Thirdly, a planet is certain to be free from disease and, as a consequence, we will have a longer lifespan M any people may fear the introduction of euthanasia as the earth becomes more crowded, but, if it is introduced, I believe that it will be only a temporary measure, as more and more men and women... started an acting career, which took off rather quickly After a considerable time, she had a lucky break in a comedy called Right Monkey, about a family who bring up a baby chimpanzee The film was a huge success She is now also a big hit in a romantic comedy, called Hello and Bye a book on writing a book on w ritin g 45 ( o u t cuts 32 F o rm al le tte r ch e c k list P a rt I 48 33 F o rm al letter... andenvironment are a b it quieter, i woabdbegrateftabiftgoa coabdcono-eg mg regards to Hugh D ear P /err/c£ , (7us,C to /& /pon £now / tfo t h ere ancito